Critical midnight repositions, stinky kippers and a glorious cock-a-leekie!

After a great few days in Glasgow we finally collected our camper-van – our home for 3 weeks!  We are both new to camper-vaning and have both been really excited for this part of our journey.  We have also been keen to prove many people wrong that we were not crazy to camper-van during the chilly UK winter.  We were not crazy for braving the cold… we were crazy for subjecting ourselves to the many other challenges that we didn’t see coming!  Little did we know, finding a refill for our gas bottle is near-impossible, as is finding a caravan park that is actually open during the winter.  The days are dark by 4pm, and what seemingly looks to be a pleasant place to park for the night can turn out to be the most exposed area on the wild Scottish coast – we’ve had the van rocking from side to side, and water unexpectedly encroaching on our position in the middle of the night, forcing us to move to higher ground at 3am!

Despite the occasional midnight surprise, these challenges have made our journey so far!  They have also led us to meet some great people along the way.  Shannon met the most interesting couple whilst searching for a toilet when we stayed by a dock in Fort William.  We came across a mariner, Donald, who was up for a chat and also unlocked the secret dockers bathroom for our use (including a well-needed shower).  Donald even invited us onto his boat for a coffee and a tour.  His partner even made us a box of noodles for the road!

We have covered sizable ground in this wee country thus far – From the centre, to as far west as the Isle of Sky and as far North-East as Speyside (whiskey territory).  Our highlights of the week have been:

• Absorbing the breath-taking mountains, the hundreds of waterfalls, countless snug coastal towns and Highland lochs amidst the mist. (a.k.a. non-stop rain)
• Attempting to scale the highest peak of the UK, Ben Nevis, only turning back because of the impending (4:30pm) darkness.
• Visiting distillerys such as Talisker in Skye and Krudds favourite, Oban. (crewatts, remember how hard it was to source when we ran out – well not in Oban, the blasted stuff is everywhere!)
• Treating ourselves to a full-on Scottish chippy experience:  Battered haddock, battered scampi, battered haggis, battered red-pudding, chips (all fried in beef fat might I add) and mushy peas!

I think one of the big highlights however has been visiting Shan’s plot of land near Glencoe. Ahem… I mean the much honoured Lord Shannon Ian Welsh of Glencoe (ok, the plot was going for a steal on Living Social)!  We fronted up to the Highland Titles nature reserve and announced to the ranger that we were there to find Shan’s plot.  We given a phone app that led us to the exact location and went on our way.  We trudged through rivers, bush-bashed through thick scrub, and scaled uphill to finally find what was Shan’s plot.  10ft by 10ft of dead bracken.  We were thrilled to have found it at last – the weather was even pleasant enough to enjoy a picnic lunch, and despite the dead-brackeny nature of his actual plot, the surrounding scenery was an alpine splendour!

The cosy camper-van life agrees with us both very much.  Especially when we have stopped for the night and it’s time to cook in our wee kitchenette.  I have been saving most of the soup and seafood recipes from the fabled Scottish cookbook for this portion of our journey (no oven required… or available).  Below are a few recipes from our first week of adventure.

On our first night we cooked kippers for dinner.  Kippers are a Scottish staple.  They are a fine-boned fish that are about the length of your hand.  There is not much to the recipe, simply melt a knob of butter into a pan.  Fry kippers for about 2 minutes on each side, or until the backbone begins to rise.  We tried the smoked variety of kippers, rated them highly and would even give them a go for breaky (when they are typically eaten).  But I now know not to cook kippers in a camper-van, unless you want to drive around smelling like a fishmonger for days!

The tastiest dish this week was cock-a-leekie.  This recipe finally rid the van of the wretched stench of kippers.  Recipe as follows:

• 5 chicken thigh fillets
• 750mL of beef stock
• 2 leeks
• salt and pepper
• 6 prunes

Place chicken thighs in saucepan.  Cover with stock and add chopped leeks, salt and pepper.  Bring to the boil and simmer covered for 4 hours.  Half an hour before soup is ready add prunes and continue simmering.  When the soup is ready, remove the chicken thighs and cut into pieces.  Return the thighs to the soup.

Move over chicken and corn soup – we could not get enough of cock-a-leekie!  The beef stock and chicken combination worked surprisingly well, along with the sweetness from the prunes and leek.  We gladly put our pot of leftovers outside (colder than inside) to keep for the next day.  I know it is not soup season back in Oz at this time of the year, but, do yourself a favour, and please remember this one for next winter!